If we said “He wasted my LIFE” instead of “He wasted my TIME” perhaps we will understand the value of TIME.– Yours truly

In the spirit of the title, I am not going to waste your time. Instead, I’ll help you save time and get more done this year. This will only take 6 minutes.

Do you feel like twenty-four(24) hours is not enough to achieve all you plan and set out to do in a day? Or do you feel like some tasks are unncessary and simply a waste of your time? Do you wish you could do less, yet get more accomplished? If you feel any of these ways sometimes or every time, then this article is for you and you should read on. If you don’t, you probably should stop reading right now, because this will be another waste of your precious time(and I won’t like to have that on my conscience).

[Tweet “In the spirit of the title, I am not going to waste your time. Instead, I’ll help you save time and get more done this year. This will only take 6 minutes.”]

Let’s cut to the chase! Here are ten(10) things that can save you time and get more done:

Touch Type or Swipe to type

Touch typing (also called touch type or touch keyboarding) is typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys. Specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory.

I touch type as I write this article. You can imagine that I don’t have to look at the keyboard while I type (my speed is increased, and I only look at my screen and concentrate on getting the idea out of my mind). Sometimes I shut my eyes and think deeply while I type what comes to my mind. Another finger is reaching for the next key, even before I press the first one.
You may be thinking: ‘But I don’t know how to Touch Type, and it might take too long to learn'(talk about the days of learning typewriting in school). I have good news for you: “You can learn it, and in a month or less too!”. Dedicate just an hour a day to it and you’ll be great in no time. All you need are software like Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing for PC users and Klavaro for Mac and Linux users.

[Tweet “I have good news for you: “You can learn it, and in a month or less too!”.”]

What about your mobile phone? Yes you can swipe from one key to another on the keypad instead of tapping each time. There are many keyboards to choose from: Swype, Swift Key, Gboard, TouchPal, etc.

I personally use Swift Key Keyboard and I’m 26% more efficient. You can see from my records here that I’ve saved a whooping 34,886 taps this month alone.
We spend most of our time sending emails, replying to chats, SMS and other written form of communication, and it happens on our mobile phones, laptops and desktops computers. It is wise to save time.

Reduce or Avoid Digital Distractions

I am looking for an article about Bees. I open my browser and search. The first search result returned “Quest for a Super Bee”; an article by Nat Geo wild on Facebook. I open it and read. Next thing, I notice I have new friend requests, I am checking it out. Next I am checking my wall for those 30 seconds, funny and interesting videos. Then I click a link to some site and see something else that’s interesting. 20 minutes is gone. I have not completed my Bee Research.

Next day, I am serious. No distractions! I am looking for an article on Company Valuations. I get redirected to Forbes website. I don’t have time to look into it at the moment and I tell myself that I’ll come back for it. I forget.

Most of us can relate to these experiences. You can reduce the Digital Distractions or avoid it altogether and save pretty much anything you see online in a little app called Pocket. Pocket allows you save anything; pictures, articles, videos, tweets, Facebook posts, for later reading. It’s like a small pocket where you put things you want to see later. The best part? You don’t need Wi-Fi to access anything you saved, making it the ultimate hack for a long flight!

Save time by reducing the amount of time Impromptu Meetings take

“Hey Sophia! Do you have a minute? There’s this idea I have been thinking about…” How many of us have had those kind of seemingly harmless chit-chats develop into long talks and taking up to an hour? I see many hands 😁.

Here’s what you can do:

As soon as someone starts talking to you and you didn’t plan for it, look at your wristwatch or your phone clock before you look the person in the eye and reply. It makes the person a little uncomfortable taking your time and want to finish up talking quickly. And it makes you conscious of your time. If the person talks for more than a minute, you can politely interrupt with a “This conversation looks like it’s gonna take more than a minute. Would you like to schedule a meeting?” or “This is coming at me all at once. I don’t want to miss out any detail. Why not put it in an email and let me give it the proper attention it deserves?”

Do some little tasks as they come and don’t postpone it.

By dealing with some nagging issues as they arrive, you get to prevent them from growing into something bigger. But be careful! If you try to clear all your tasks as soon as they come, you are not being efficient. Try to cut, and if you can’t, then delegate.

[Tweet “By dealing with some nagging issues as they arrive, you get to prevent them from growing into something bigger.”]

Avoid meetings whenever possible

Let’s be honest. Meetings take more time than we expect and most of them are unnecessary. Use e-mail instead of face-to-face meetings to solve problems.

If meetings are unavoidable, keep the following in mind:

Go in with a clear set of objectives.

Set a countdown timer on your phone at the beginning of a meeting that you convened. When the time is up and you hear the beep, you’ll be compelled to roundoff or bring the meeeting to a close.

If you’re not the convener, try to beg to leave early and request for the minutes.

Reduce the drudgery of writing

Do you do lots of writing? Use the Hemmingway app instead and save yourself some time. That’s what I’m using to string this article together as we speak(write). It is a great little tool that checks your grammar and highlights potential sentence danger zones as you write. Give it a typehere!

Be realistic about Time Management

Time management is not really about time management as it is about energy management. Structure your day into time blocks, taking into consideration when you have the most energy. Give yourself plenty of time to get things done (and include breaks).

Automate!

Remember the saying?

The shortest pen is better than the longest memory.

It still holds true. You’d expect me to say “write it down in a book”. Nope! “Type it in your phone’s Google Calendar”. You’ll get the following benefits:

It can be found on your PC or laptop at work or home(Google Synchronizes it. You don’t have to do a thing!)

You can add an alert to it; like ask it to trigger your phone alarm when it is time or send you an email to remind you.

You can choose if you want your reminder to be time-based or location-based. i.e. Do you want the alarm to ring when it is 4pm or when you are at the office or market?

You may not carry your note with you, but you certainly carry your cellphone wherever you go.

Streamline the way you consume content

We all love to read good content from news to interesting articles like this one. But it can easily take away hours of time that we’re supposed to dedicate to more important tasks. Feedly is a tool that will enable you to collect content from all your favourite websites in one place to read at a later time(it’s sorta like making all your websites visit you instead of visiting them).

You can subscribe to as many RSS Feeds as you like, organise content into relevant categories and even take actions on the articles you read, like share them to a friend and family.

Keep up with our website for more productive articles like this one

This is the easiest to do. And the more you do it, the more time you’ll save.

[Tweet “This is the easiest to do. And the more you do it, the more time you’ll save.”]

You can reach me in my e-mail if you have any questions or need help to set up any of the above on your phones or PCs. You can reach me at benson.st@awlo.org.

This month we have been talking about visionary leaders who broke the rules, and consequently broke the record. Martin Luther King Jr, Tyra Banks, and here is Taraji P. Henson. Whoopi Goldberg says, “Now, everybody knows (Taraji Henson’s) name.”

Taraji Henson could have dropped out of college when she had a son. She was also at crossroads in her life, when she wanted to reach for her dreams in California. Meaning she’d have to move across cities with just a passion, 700 dollars, and her son.

Flash back to 21 years later and Taraji P Henson says “I am 46, and I am only just scratching the surface” How did she get here?

Taraji Put dreams to Action

[Tweet “My father said you are going to be a great actress – @therealTaraji”]

“I remember the first time I was in kindergarten and I was in front of an audience

And I remember going to the mic and doing something really corky, and the audience laughing, and I was like ‘I like this’… ‘I like this attention’.

And my father saw this at a very young age. He recognized it at a very young age and he said ‘you are going to be a great actress, that’s what you are going to do…’”. – Taraji Henson

Fast forward to 2018, like Whoopi Goldberg said, everybody now knows Taraji Henson. She is the cookie on our TV screens, and has bagged award after award.

The courage to Pursue Dreams

[Tweet “If you lack the courage to chase your dreams, they might as well be dreams.”]

“…My dad was like ‘how do you expect to catch fish on dry land’, and I was like ‘what?’ And he said how are you going to get acting jobs when there are not here. You need to go to LA; that’s where the acting jobs are. So, my family threw a party, we were broke, they raised 700 dollars and I moved to LA. I had a passion, I had a dream, and I dived in. I went for my dream and here I am.” – Taraji Henson

If you lack the courage to chase your dreams, they might as well be dreams.

Author; Lewis Hose on ‘The Importance of Having Courage’, says “You’ve got to be willing to risk the chance of looking like a failure. The world needs you to share your gifts and go for your dreams. There aren’t enough people who have the courage to go for it.”

Dump Comfort Zones

[Tweet “”Living too comfortably can cause you to settle for a life that’s less than what you’re capable of”]

“I graduated from college, and I had this degree… and my dad saw me coming and going to work every day, and he said ‘what are you doing?’ and I said, making a living… I was in a transitional phase. I had this degree and ‘I was just living’…” -Taraji P. Henson

It is true, and I tend to agree with Inc. columnist Sonia Thompson, “Living too comfortably can cause you to settle for a life that’s less than what you’re capable of”. It’s like waking up every day, yet the things you seem to make happen are only the things that life make happen to you.

Mel Robbins popular inventor of the 5 second rule says, “if you’re sitting around waiting for motivation… it’s not coming. If you don’t start doing the things you don’t feel like doing, you will wake up one year from today and be in exactly the same place.

According to Whoopi Goldberg a lot of people may not know what Taraji Henson did to get to where she is today. she said “YOU TOOK A BIG RISK first of all by moving to LA, and making a decision and saying ‘I am going for it’”. This is dumping the comfort zone.

In time past, reforms and breakthroughs in national policies have been preceded by activism marches. It looks like the days of Montgomery Bus Boycott may be returning with women at the center of a national protest, as Women’s March 2018 is creating so much momentum and sister marches are joining in commemoration from Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Women’s March is a movement that started in 2017 following the election of President Donald Trump. It was characterized by “Women-led protests against Trump, that U.S. policy would be based on the principle of “America first,” and were also staged as sister marches in Sydney, London, Tokyo and other cities across Europe and Asia.” As stated in this report by reuters. These “U.S. marches and sympathy rallies around the world… drew nearly 5 million protesters in all.” they said.

According to the organizers, the mission of ‘Women’s March’ is to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change. Right now, they are counting their wins as a result of the inclusion of more marginalized people in leadership. To these women, the fight is not just about them, is about inclusiveness.

This year took it to the next level with the numbers of participants escalating and giving the march a theme. They are practically turning the movement into an actual strategy, calling this year’s theme ‘Power to the Polls’.

“The national voter registration tour will target swing states to register new voters, engage impacted communities, harness our collective energy to advocate for policies and candidates that reflect our values, and collaborate with our partners to elect more women and progressive candidates to office.”, Women’s March shared on their website.

Some of the popular words on the placards held by the women during the march read: ‘Me too’ ‘Time’s up’ ‘Welcome Refugees’ ‘The future is female’.

Industry Leaders were represented in this year Women’s March held on the 20th and 21st January. Academy Award winner Viola Davis’ speech has been trending from the march in DC. See her speech below

Africa is yet to recover from the win of Liberia’s first female Vice President-elect; Jewel Taylor. Here is a perfect scenario of beside every successful man is a woman, some people are even calling her the jewel on Weah’s crown.

In this season, It looks like Jewel Taylor has a lot going great for her. Asides from counting down to taking the oath of office on 22nd January, she turned 55 on 17th January.

What we are proud of most, was how she chose to spend this perfect day with those who really matter; the people of her community.

This should be a sign that good governance is about to sweep us off our feet in this regime. Skip back to the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit 2016 in Africa, when Barrack Obama was making a case for good governance in Africa. “Good Governance means that everybody has a Voice”, he emphasized.

Governance is truly about leaders making themselves accessible to the people, to resonate with them. This will be crucial in making decisions that add value.

Senator Taylor was also in the company of the President-elect, George Weah. Amidst spending quality time, the duo served good food to the people. We could recall that Weah spoke of identifying with the needs of the poor during campaigns when he said “Like many of you, I have been a victim of poverty”.

Senator Jewel Taylor truly means well for the Citizens of Liberia. And her partnership with Weah should see to the fruition of her good intentions. “Giving to the less fortunate People” she says was the goal of her birthday.

The words “We rise by lifting others up” by Robert Ingersoll have never had truer meaning than now. Here is to congratulating our Board Member; Senator Jewel Taylor on her new age and blazing a trail as the first female Vice President of Liberia.

Today I had the opportunity to personally present an Award of Excellence to our media Partner African Independent Television, AIT on behalf of African Women in Leadership Organisation.

AIT has added incredible value to AWLO over the years as media partner. The MD of AIT, Mrs. Oluwatosin Dokpesi was present at the headquarters in Abuja to receive the award on behalf of the organisation. With her also was the GM, Namure Edoimioya.

AWLO is delighted to present the award, because we gained substantial coverage in Africa as a result of their media support. It is also well deserved since they’ve been pushing the frontiers of women inclusion through great contents.

AIT is on ground again to kick-start media plans for AWLO’s 10th anniversary international conference in July. Welldone AIT, we appreciate the good work.

Tyra Banks could have been devastated the day her modelling agency broke the news that she couldn’t be hired anymore. No, she was actually devastated, but she made a game changing decision that turned the odds in her favor.

Tyra Banks is a Business Mogul cum Super Model cum Body Activist cum Media Personality, but most importantly a Leader.

Her Journey To Being A Self-starter

Tyra Banks and her T-Zone kids back in the day

Tyra Banks went through an odd phase she terms ‘the ugly duckling phase’, where she was bullied and teased in high school for her looks. Even though this is now a thing of the past, it has shaped her in the way she has risen above body-shaming and now revamped the modelling industry standards.

She coined the term flawsome; meaning ‘having flaws, but staying awesome despite it’. She refers to her prominent ‘forehead’ feature as a ‘five head’. “I don’t have a four head, I have a Five head…more like six. Whatever number you wanna count to I totally accept that.”

“When I think about models, I think about features that are corky and interesting to them. I break down a feature like; look at those chick bones or she has a million freckles and they are amazing.” Tyra told Pretty Unfiltered.

[Tweet “@tyrabanks was initially considered unfit for modelling because she no more had a certain look”]

Tyra recalls being told that she wasn’t fit for the modelling industry because she no more had a certain look. “I started crying, I said Momma I don’t know what to do, what should I do? Should I exercise every day? Should I diet? And she said let’s figure out how to work with what you have to get what you want”

Truly Leading

[Tweet ““I like to do things differently” -@tyrabanks”]

“I like to do things first, think out of the box, and do things differently” she told essence that the one word that would describe her “that would be ‘Visionary’”.

Since breaking out of the mold Tyra has raised the bar. She was a break out model in her time and has gracefully bowed out to build multiple empires.

Her courageous attempt to lead the bandwagon has led to the creation of brands such as The Tyra Banks Show, America’s Next Top Model, T Zone, Flawless Ball, Type-F.com, Tyra Beauty, The Fablife.

Filling a Gap

Tyra Banks hosting her Top Model TV Show

In many ways she seeks to make people discover their beauty. Her personal mantra is “Seeing a Model in everyone.” Tyra knows better than to try to put everyone in a mold, she is the queen of “everyone standing out”

Through her works, she has discovered exceptional talents such as Winnie Harlow – a model with a prominent skin condition called vitiligo. She has given thousands of women a voice, thought them to embrace their beauty and rise above limitations.

Tyra Banks was termed unfit for modelling because she wasn’t the stereotype model, but she took this supposed flaw and turned it into a niche for herself, and paved a way for more generations coming after her.

This year makes it 50 years, since the world lost Martin Luther King Junior at a young age of 39, but let’s not dwell on this for a second. I mean it’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day; today marks another memorial of his strides of revolutionary Leadership.Read More

This year AWLO will be focused on sustainability and leadership performance. In 2017, we registered significant success in enabling many women recognize their potential. AWLO Theme for 2017 was inspiring greatness, and unleashing the power, and thousands of African Women poured in testimonials. It was also further proof that, self-belief is a significant step in attaining one’s potential.Read More

It is a New Year!We have been led OUT!We have passed THROUGH!!We have been brought IN!!!

As adults, we often reminisce about the idyllic days of our youth. Those days where we did not have a care in the world; a time when responsibilities hadn’t begun to take up permanent residence on our shoulders. In hindsight, our youth seem to be synonymous with a carefree time of our lives. But you’ll think otherwise when you take off the rose-tinted glasses.

When we think of the unfolding journey of our lives, how life has shaped us individually and collectively as an organization, we focus on how we have passed through the process of personal growth. This changing and evolving process, clearly, has involved us getting firmly established in our identities; and the three words we need to know are: OUT, THROUGH, and IN. This is exactly what God did for the Nation of Israel in Biblical times. And is a picture of what He continuously does for us in modern times.

[Tweet “It is a New Year! We have been led OUT! We have passed THROUGH!! We have been brought IN!!!”]

Daily, we observe from hindsight the path of our past, meandering through different situations and circumstances of life, maturing in our ideals and expectations. Today, we find ourselves, through no power or abilities of our own, witnessing and welcoming the dawn of another brand new year. Undoubtedly, God has led us into this new year for a greater purpose and manifestation of the plans laid out for the good of humanity. Just as it was symbolical in Egypt, calling out the Isreaelites, because He had a better future for them.

Today, African Women in Leadership Organization (AWLO) welcomes you to a fortuitous brand new year with enthusiasm, energy, and readiness to move mountains. I believe God has called us OUT of the past year 2017, THROUGH our myriad ups and downs, our backs and forths’, our highs and lows, our rise and falls, and our kicks and starts; to begin an IN journey towards the future.

[Tweet “Today, African Women in Leadership Organization (AWLO) welcomes you to a fortuitous brand new year.”]

Thus in recognizing the message of the year, we begin unraveling a series of IN’s in our daily striving. Let’s have an In-depth knowledge of our purpose, an Insight into our dreams, for an Influx of ideas, with an Intense debate of issues, leading to an Infuse of awareness to our Input and Interest.

[Tweet “Let’s have an In-depth knowledge of our purpose, an Insight into our dreams.”]

We shall not be held back by Invalid attempts to Interrupt our Interplay as we move towards the milestone of our 10th Anniversary!! There, I said it! African Women in Leadership Organization AWLO has come a full cycle! A Decade! A decade of Innovative leadership, a decade of Interesting accomplishments, and a flourishing decade of outstanding Ingenuity as we Increasingly Inspire and Inform! AWLO has impacted positively on the world, through our most valuable assets; The Great African Women of Worth!

[Tweet “African Women in Leadership Organization AWLO has come a full cycle! A Decade!”]

Let’s have the resolve that our expectations, our loyalty, our dreams will not fizzle out quickly in premature display of doubts. Let’s see 2018 for what it is. An unblemished chapter in the annals of unfolding seasons: awaiting the imprints of our stories, thirsty for the Inflow of our energies, and hungry for the enduring dreams of our heart. Together, with our partners worldwide, we move forward in singleminded pursuit of our dreams and vision.

Let’s be totally honest with the year. Let’s not burden it with the failings of our past, and not endanger it, with the frustrations of our doubts. Let us bestow upon the year, the status it merits and deserves; a newness of hope, the freshness of dreams, the absoluteness of faith, the auspiciousness of a new beginning and the decisiveness of time and seasons.

[Tweet “Let’s be totally honest with the year. Let’s not burden it with the failings of our past.”]

It is in this display of exuberant gratitude and joyous thankfulness that I, on behalf of all the Chapters, Regions, Members and Staff of AWLO; bid you all a very prosperous and Happy New Year! I believe that God is going to continue to show His greatness to us all in new ways in 2018.

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